EXCLUSIVE: Netherlands Can Win The Tournament - Joris Mathijsen

Posted Tuesday, June 01, 2010 by Goal.com

The Hamburg defender is full of confidence that Holland can go all the way...

Netherlands are by many considered to be an outsider for the 2010 World Cup. Goal.com's Ramon Ram spoke with defender Joris Mathijsen during Holland's training camp in Austria and the Hamburg man was full of confidence ahead of this summer's tournament.

"We're convinced that we can be successful in South Africa. If Greece can win the European Championships, than Netherlands can certainly win the World Cup," Mathijsen was quoted as saying by Goal.com.

"There are about seven or eight teams that have set their sights on winning the tournament and Netherlands are one of those teams. It's all about one thing this summer and that's winning the World Cup. Several teams will leave the tournament disappointed."

The former AZ star also took the time to discuss Oranje's performances in the recent past and pointed out that the Dutch have learnt from their mistakes.

"We have learnt a lot from the past two big tournaments and that will be very helpful this summer. We can't be satisfied after some good games in the group phase. We will not get carried away this time around.

"It's crucial to be mentally strong at a tournament like this. We were eliminated in the previous two tournaments due to details. However, we were sent home in the early stages of the tournament on two occasions after impressing during the group phase."